What do you get if you combine dogs, aromatherapy, and a previous career in sales? If you are Elizabeth Newman, 59,  the answer is a new business selling an original line in aromatherapy shampoo for dogs. By combining her two great loves with her work experience, Elizabeth is now running “The Pampered Pooch”, which supplies luxury shampoo - – - read more >

Olderpreneurs are not being put off by the recession. A higher proportion are going ahead and giving self-employment a go than five years ago. And the gender gap is narrowing – a higher proportion of women are going ahead than five years ago, These are among the results of a follow-up study PRIME has completed - – - read more >

Made redundant at 52, and suffering from Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME), the Job Centre told Tony Palmer that his chances of paid employment were slim. Tony took matters into his own hands and started his own engraving business. Crystal Mountain Glass sells engraved awards, wedding gifts, decanters, bowls, and paperweights, as well as rock tablets with - – - read more >

Angela, 55, is a qualified Bowen massage therapist treating horses, dogs and people to help them with pain relief. She discovered the Bowen Technique as a client, having chronic pain issues herself following a car accident.        “It wasn’t a light bulb moment, more a growing awareness that this was possibly the way - – - read more >

Bob Rawal, 57, contacted PRIME in April 2010 and was sent a free start-up pack. Later that month he went onto apply for a Zopa-PRIME Olderpreneur loan. Bob decided to start up his own business after being made redundant twice in three years. Up until this point he had spent 35 years in the medical - – - read more >

If you’ve started your own business or have become self-employed after the age of 50, here’s a chance to get some free publicity. We’d like to hear from you. We’re looking for stories to put up on the case-studies section of this web site. There are two ways of entering. If you use Microsoft Word - – - read more >

The BBC 2 programme talks to a woman who proves you don’t have to be young to be entrepreneurial. Daksha Kumar founded her own company in her late 50s and now, aged 65, is doing very well. If you have missed the programme you can see it from Thursday at BBCiPlayer Daksha has been in - – - read more >

Olderpreneur Suzy Kilgour, 53 has become a specialist fitness instructor, after seven years in the charity sector. Suzy Kilgour runs Walking Workouts – a fitness business specialising in power walking and low impact body conditioning. Group sessions take place on Clapham Common and cost £14 an hour. Personal training comes in at £40 an hour, - – - read more >

A group of crafty over 50s have proved that four heads are better than one, by setting up creative resource website www.makeitandmendit.com. Clare Flynn, Clare O’Brien, Anne Caborn, and Hillary Bruffell joined forces in January 2009, and have since established a strong following of almost 2,500 people on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.‘The business - – - read more >

After 30 years in finance and leasing, 58-year-old Robert White has started a new trade as a domestic energy assessor. West Bromwich man Bob spent 30 years in finance and leasing, as sales manager, business development manager, and managing director. With the recession the market declined, and Bob found himself made redundant three times in - – - read more >

Cousins Jackie Hatton, 52 and Denise Lever, 50 have set up a gift shop in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. The shop offers affordable country lifestyle gifts, which can be anything from handmade soap to second hand furniture. Taking it in turns to man the counter, Denise and Jackie each enjoy a three-four day week, and split - – - read more >

Fifty six year old Janet Wilks is earning £30,000 a year after starting a business in Belief Therapy. Janet, who lives in Leeds, helps people dismantle conscious and unconscious limiting beliefs, so that they can live a fuller life. Janet specialises in confidence building, personal development, and new businesses. Janet sees seven to ten people - – - read more >

Lynn Swift worked for almost 30 years for the same local law firm. Following redundancy, she now runs her own successful legal business in Walsall in the West Midlands.  Called H & B Inheritance, it deals with wills, probate, deeds of variation, lasting powers of attorney and changes of name.  Lynn had been thinking about - – - read more >

The Guardian has published a long piece called “Starting a business – what the over-50s need to know“. Businesses started by people in their 50s are more likely to succeed than those begun by 20- or 30-somethings, it says, and author Patrick Collinson goes on to interview some examples of olderpreneurs. PRIME’s free roadshow events - – - read more >

Susan Port, 57 from Warwickshire started her own business after retiring due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In July 2006 Susan became the UK and EU sole distributor for Babynobumps Ltd, a company which provides safety hats, to protect babies’ heads from bumps and scrapes. Three years down the line, Susan is in talks - – - read more >